The Swede will stay in San Siro if the Rossoneri can climb to the top four from the end of May.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a clause in his AC Milan contract which will see him automatically renew his deal with the club to the 2020-21 year if Champions League eligibility is procured.
The Swede came for a second spell in the San Siro club in January following a spell playing in MLS with the LA Galaxy and has returned three goals and an assist from nine appearances.
The fortunes of the club have improved especially since his return, with the only defeat they’ve endured coming from Inter from the derby, a game where they held a 2-0 advantage.
This was borne out by their league position, together with the Rossoneri climbing from 11th to seventh after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Fiorentina, a game where Ibra scored an excellent solo goal only to see it chalked off because of a VAR decision.
And if Milan continue their rise up the standings to secure a top-four end and with it a route back to the Champions League, Ibrahimovic’s deal will automatically renew.
“There is a six-month contract with an automatic renewal clause in the event we hit the Champions League,” Milan technical manager Paolo Maldini clarified to Sky Sport Italia. “Otherwise, we will put ourselves around the table.
“With Ibra, there always has to be an open conversation and this is present, otherwise he wouldn’t have come in the first place.”
Meanwhile, Maldini, whose side are nine points shy of fourth-placed Atalanta, scotched rumours that Ralf Rangnick could replace Stefano Pioli as head coach of the Rossoneri.
“I have never contacted him and he is not a suitable profile for our staff based on my vision,” he said.
Nevertheless, he’s not entirely pleased with how things are going on the field.
“Unfortunately, we just get a point, since the game was under control and we played better than Fiorentina. However, with the resistance down to ten men we didn’t know how to take care of the circumstance,” he informed DAZN, reflecting on Saturday’s match before getting the most recent in a long line of figures from Italy to reach out at VAR.
“It’s a bit annoying, as in this instance, VAR not calling the referee for this penalty incident was perplexing. I was more certain two decades back on what was or was not a penalty. If that is a punishment, then I really don’t understand what is happening today,” he fumed.
Milan aren’t in action until next Sunday when they host Genoa.
